Quote:
Originally Posted by Gotadimple
One can sit at home and click through the book-selling web sites looking for something to read and find it - popular or not - well-reviewed or not - trending or not.
Or
One can wandering the bookshelves in a book store (new or used or both), take in the colors of the spines and the covers, and inhale the scents of the surroundings. Get the atmosphere and then find something you were not expecting - because you are on your feet, moving your eyes, and hands, and touching the real thing.
Technology may be a fast way to deliver, but it is not better than the tactile senses.
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As seems to be frequently discussed, people love books for all sorts of reasons. Some love collecting and displaying books but rarely read them. For some, reading is only part of an experience which includes what I will term for want of a better description the thrill of the chase, which you seem to describe, including the touching of the books and their smell etc. If you like this, fine. What to you is a positive experience is to many a neutral or negative one. Need I mention crowds, inconvenience, poor display and organisation, limited choice etc. It depends on your point of view.
Personally, a book to me is not about the form in which it is packaged but the contents. Given this, I find ebooks and online stores much superior. It is much easier to find that gem online than by combing through endless bookstores.
Fortunately, at least at the moment, we can all indulge ourselves. If enough people share your views then the experience you value so much will remain available to you, without forcing it upon me and others who don't value that experience.